A Million Memories
by Love's-Sweet-Exile
Summary: It's been four years since Victoria made her army. One vampire escaped. William Dark, aged 16, and after this long, he knows it's time to search for a better life. The sight of one Cullen girl will change everything. Please RxR, story better than summary!
1. Chapter 1

**Okay - after asking on my other fanfiction, it turns out that apparently this was a good idea, so here goes!  
**

**Please no flames, and review so i know whether to continue this story or not!!**

Chapter 1

My name is William Dark, and I was sixteen years old when I was turned into a vampire.

I was going to finish high junior year – I was even predicted good grades in my finals! I was going to tell my girlfriend, Steffie, that I loved her. I was going to play captain at the junior football semis. I was going to go up in a year or so time and collect a scroll commemorating my achievements so far in life. As proof; proof of who I am. The only proof I have now that I _was_ sixteen are the scars on my back from the beatings of my sire.

My _sire_. I hate the word – it rolls around the mouth with a delicious taste; it breathes romance and eternal love... that's not why I was _sired_. I was sired to kill, and nothing more. I was sired to be a _slave_ to the vampire Victoria, to serve her and bring her vendetta on a plate. I was sired to live a short second life.

But I defied her. I defied my apparent _destiny_, because I had, and still do have, a _lot_ more to do than kill. I am _going_ to take finals, and I am _going_ to tell someone I love her...

Who am I kidding? Victoria ruined my chances of ever having a normal life.

She killed me in a dank Seattle backstreet, where I was taking a shortcut home from football practise, and my footsteps echoed eerily from the walls. My mom always told me never to walk that way, but did I listen? If I had, I'd still have a mother to go home to. But anyway, reminiscence isn't something I let get to me these days, it hurts too much. Hindsight is a bitch.

I heard her before I saw her – soft steps across the concrete, and a shallow breathing. My heart leapt, and thudded faster than ever before (as though it knew it had only a little time left to beat, before it would be evermore silenced). I turned slowly, my hand sliding inside my bag to pull out my flick knife that my dad gave me for self defence. It had saved me from a mugging once – given me borrowed time. She had knocked my hand sideways before I even saw her, and the bones up my arm snapped with a sickening crack. I sobbed with pain that soon turned to terror as she dragged my head back, forcing me to look at her.

The eyes... I would never forget those eyes... They were deepest red, with black rims and bloodshot whites; I learned a year later that that came from too much feeding.

She knocked me to the ground with a single blow to the shoulder, and wrenched up my hand, pressing her lips to my wrist. I only screamed for a second – then the pain was so blinding that any thoughts of making a sound faded from my mind.

The memories came back as I stumbled down a Forks street four years later. It was the rain that did it – the night I woke up it was raining, and suddenly my eyes could see every colour of the rainbow shining off each droplet.

But today was the day I had to concentrate on... today was the day to do or die. My throat was aching, my eyes jet black, and my bones were clearly visible on my chest – though I covered them with a torn shirt I had found in a dumpster. I was wearing the same torn jeans as I had been when I had been changed; as a vampire, dirt doesn't even go skin deep, it just slides off the surface.

'You can do it, Will, go _on_!' I hissed to myself, staggering around the corner and following the strong scent. If my heart could beat, I knew it would be banging against my ribcage with fear. I could die today. As I walked down the path to the grand white house, I caught the scent of a deer in the surrounding woods, and I coughed chokily, clenching my fists by my side and deciding not to breathe. 'Stop it,' I snarled, as I took a step towards the wood involuntarily, 'stop it _stop_ it _STOP_ it!'

Shaking my head angrily, I started forwards again, my black eyes fixed on the house. My steps were even shorter now, though I felt slightly encouraged when I smelt only six vampires inside – the other two must be elsewhere. There was werewolf scent too – it made me gag and shudder. I had last smelt it up by the Canadian border during one of my tracking expeditions – there is nothing better to take your mind off things.

When I reached the door, I stopped dead, and allowed the icy rain to pour down my back. The downpour calmed me slightly, as I stood a few inches from the front step, and I blinked my eyes very slowly and deliberately. 'A better way to live. A better way to live,' I chanted my mantra to myself, before raising my hand to ring the bell. For a second, I allowed my fingers to touch the smooth black paint, before I pressed my finger against the bell and flinched backwards. _Still time to run..._ I thought, and I was just about to turn around when the door open, so quickly that it was as though the man had been standing beside it just waiting for the bell to ring – that's vampire speed for you.

'Can I...help?' He asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. I caught a glimpse of messy blonde hair, serious arm muscles and extremely stylish clothes before my eyes hit the floor (not literally, of course). I mumbled something unintelligible even to me, and the guy stepped forwards. Instantly, a wave of calm rushed over me, and I looked up nervously, into the warm amber eyes. 'Do we know you?' He asked, with a velvet voice as soft as flowing water.

'N-no,' I stammered, 'I was just... leaving,' I turned to dash away, but he caught my shoulder. Terror filled my veins – what was he going to do, kill me?

'Come inside,' he said firmly, pulling me into the hall and closing the door behind me. I was very conscious that I was dripping with water. 'What's your name?' He asked, vanishing and reappearing a split second later with a huge towel, which he wrapped gently around my shoulders.

'William,' I mumbled, drying my face on a corner and looking up again.

'Where are you from?' He said, leading me down through an elaborate hallway and into a room off the corridor. There were grand paintings across the walls, but I didn't pay much attention to them, listening instead to the quiet breathing of vampires down the hall.

I coughed slightly, looking up and answering quickly, 'Seattle.' It was amazing how quickly he understood, and he raised his eyebrows a little.

'Victoria changed you.' It was a statement, not a question.

'I shouldn't be here,' I muttered, making to stand up, but he pushed me down with surprising strength for an ordinary vampire against a newborn. 'Sorry,' I said quickly with wide eyes, swallowing loudly.

'You're safe here,' he said calmly.

'I wouldn't... hurt anyone,' I whispered, biting my lip.

'I mean _you're_ safe here,' I looked into his eyes as he said it, and saw a curved scar running along his cheek. It was as though he felt my eyes on it, as he lifted his hand to sweep across his fringe, allowing the hair to fall over the scar. 'I'm Jasper,' he held out a hand, and I shook it weakly, loosening my jaw slightly from its previously stiff freeze frame.

If he hadn't have been shaking my hand, I don't know what would have happened next. I heard the front door open, and a sickly strong scent hit me as badly as the first time I had smelt a human; and the heartbeat...the _heartbeat_ – slightly too fast to be human, slightly too slow to be werewolf... I jerked forwards, and Jasper twisted my wrist back, catching me by the waist and dragging me away from the door. The fight lasted less than five seconds before I realised I had _zero_ chance of overpowering Jasper.

When he finally released me, after I had calmed enough, I turned to see that I had torn his long shirt sleeve, which he hurriedly folded over to hide the mottled skin there. It was a split second before I realised what the pattern was – hundreds, _thousands_, of crescent shaped scars.

'I have a history of newborn armies,' he said quietly. 'I was turned just like you... though in less of a city.'

'When?' I choked, tensing every particle of my body to try and block out the smell and sound of the _human_, or whatever it was.

'1863. During the Civil War.'

A spasm of pain rippled through my body as I remembered studying the Civil War at school... Steffie had been wearing a tight fitting purple sweater and black skinny jeans with black high heeled boots... and the little amethyst necklace I had bought her for her birthday the previous year; she had looked beautiful, but I hadn't told her – I thought I'd have all the time in the world to do so.

'Memories?' He asked softly.

'Yeah,' I admitted, scratching the back of my hand, where even my rock hard skin had started to peel. He caught my wrist and gently prised away my fingers. He didn't say anything, though, just lifting his other hand and showing the scars of torn skin on the back of his own hand.

'Do you want to meet the rest of them?' It wasn't a command, it wasn't even _persuasive_. It was a genuine question that I could say _no_ to.

'Er...yeah... I guess.'

**It'll only take a second to tell me if you like it or not!! After all, i'm not sure if to continue this or not :/**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okaaaaay, here's chapter 2!**

**Glad you guys liked chapter 1, and don't worry, this _is_ a mainly C/E story, but we just haven't reached that bit yet!**

**PLEASE review, it means everything to me!**

Chapter 2

'This is Carlisle,' Jasper smiled, nodding towards one of the most beautiful adults I had ever seen. He looked like someone out of a movie, with pale blonde hair falling in slightly ruffled waves around his pale face, and framing his pointed features. His eyes were the brightest topaz I could ever have imagined. 'Carlisle, this is William.'

'Hey,' I said quietly, biting my lip and smiling weakly.

'Victoria changed him,' Jasper added, and Carlisle's nod in reply was not unkind... merely inquisitive. He didn't look at Jasper – his eyes were fixed on mine.

'Pleasure to meet you,' he said calmly.

'You don't have to lie,' I replied, wincing a little.

'He's not lying,' an icy voice stated. I turned to see Edward Cullen for the first time. Majestic, proud and terrifying, the mere sight of him made me shrink backwards a little. His hair was bronze and messy, and his eyes a threatening amber, which looked at mine with a clear sneer. 'Edward,' he held out his hand, and I shook it nervously, feeling his fingers close around mine too tightly to be entirely friendly.

'William,' I looked down, as he jerked his hand away and slid it around the waist of a pretty brunette – she was nothing special for a vampire. As soon as the thought entered my mind, Edward growled loudly and the girl pulled him back slightly, shaking her head.

'This is Bella,' he said with a clenched jaw.

'You can read minds,' I narrowed my eyes, stepping back slightly.

'Well observed,' he drew Bella away, saying nothing more and leaving me with Carlisle and Jasper.

'Ignore Edward – we all know he's a prick,' Jasper smiled.

'Jasper...' Carlisle sighed.

'_Jasper_!' another voice repeated, only high and bright. A beaming girl threw herself through the doorway and into Jasper's arms. 'I _missed_ you!' she grinned, flicking her short spiky hair out of her eyes and turning to me slowly. 'I..._ didn't_ miss _you_... who...?'

'This is William – I'm surprised you didn't see him coming,' Carlisle said bemusedly.

'Must have been a quick decision,' she said, pulling a face that was not unfriendly. Her eyes were a similar shade of amber to Jasper's, but were framed by hugely thick, long black eyelashes and sharp black kohl. 'I'm Alice by the way,' she added, with a cheerful grin, 'Alice Cullen.'

'I guessed the Cullen part,' I said awkwardly, trying to return her smile.

'You're not a big talker are you?' she giggled.

'Guess not,' I shrugged, 'at least not until I get to know people.'

'Well you'll fit in anyway in this family,' Jasper rolled his eyes, 'you've got moody broody Edward, never-stop-talking Alice and everyone else in between!'

'I still don't see why we have to have someone in our family who tried to kill us,' Rosalie shrugged from her position against the wall. There is no way I can really describe her – but my eyes widened when I first looked at her. She was impossibly beautiful, so beautiful that it is impossible to express through words.

'He didn't try to kill us,' Jasper said coolly. 'He ran away before the planning even started.'

'Ran away,' Edward snorted from a doorway, 'didn't run away when you smelt my _daughter_ did you?'

His _daughter_? I only spared a second's thought to her. Abnormal vampire spawn – there'd be an explanation later. So that was why he was so cold... I'd almost attacked his daughter... '_forget_,' I breathed, and the ones nearest me looked confused for a second before the look quickly switched to bemusement and Edward's face softened. 'So is this all of you?' I asked calmly, trusting my power.

'No, no – Emmett is out with Esme helping her buy a new car, and Renesmee, me and Bella's daughter, is with Jacob, her most-probably-future-boyfriend.'

'Right,' I smiled, 'so we're all good?' I pressed, trying to make sure that it had definitely worked. I later discovered that, thankfully, all thoughts of my gift were undetectable – clearly an added bonus.

'Yeah, yeah. We completely understand... about Victoria,' Edward nodded, 'it wasn't your fault.'

'Yeah,' Rosalie agreed, ' it'll be great having you here I guess.' She still sounded sceptical, but I hoped that that was just her nature. She was wearing a very tight white lace dress that clung to every curve, but her beautiful features were cold – I comforted myself with the knowledge that she _definitely_ looked naturally mean.

Bella, however, was looking at the others with a confused expression, and when her eyes travelled to mine she narrowed them perceptibly. 'Yeah,' she said falsely, 'it'll be great. Why don't we go find Renesmee and Jacob?' her addition was said in a monotone, for she was concentrating more on my eyes. As Edward slid his arm around her waist and they walked past us to the door, she whispered so quietly that only I could hear, '_forget_?'

'What was that, Bella?'

'Nothing, Eddie,' she smiled.

'_Please_ don't call me that!' he groaned, opening the door and walking outside with her and down the drive at a steady human pace.

'So – you like the family?' Jasper asked, grinning.

'What do you want me to say?' I laughed, still feeling slightly ill, but at least having forgotten the embarrassment of my red eyes. 'They're brilliant,' I assured, 'better than _my_ family – the vampire ones, y'know?' I added hastily, when Jasper's brow furrowed. 'My human ones were... anyway, where do I sleep?'

'_Anywhere_ you want,' Alice beamed, grabbing my hand and pulling me out to a staircase. 'Up the stairs and first on the left is me and Jasper's room, then next to it is my wardrobe. But you can take any other room you want! You can take the others' bedrooms as well, since I don't really care and took Edward's when I turned up. There's a really great spot in the corner of the garage for stacking his record collection.'

'Now now, Alice,' Carlisle said in a kind but stern voice, 'stop polluting the minds of new family members.'

'But my dead mother always taught me to _share_,' she pouted.

'Your dead mother put you in an asylum,' Jasper reminded, pulling her away from me and kissing her forehead as she giggled.

'But if she hadn't, I'd never have found you.'

'Best to leave them to it when they get like that,' Carlisle nodded meaningfully to me, and I smiled weakly back, before shooting up the staircase and starting down the corridor. It was only when I came to an empty room painted a shade of yellow so pale that it was almost white, that I stopped moving.

I slid slowly down one of the walls to the floor and scratched the back of my hand without thinking. I bit my lip – was it fair, really, to corrupt this family? Twist their minds and make them forget... I was born to kill... what if I did something stupid and killed them? I was meant to live a _short_ second life – this wasn't supposed to happen....wasn't my _destiny_! 'I don't _care_ what my fortune is,' I growled aloud, running a hand through my messy dark hair and rubbing my cheek hard.

'First sign of madness, talking to your own head,' Rosalie said from the doorway, and I looked up with a sigh. 'You want someone to talk to, I'm just across the hall,' for a second her harsh features softened.

'Thanks,' I smiled, 'it's good... to know.'

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	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, here's the update! I really hope you like it, and I'm sorry it took a while.**

**Thanks for all the amazing reviews.**

**Saw Eclipse today, and can't believe I have to wait a week to see it again (damn you UK, but thanks for the advanced screenings!) **

**Was it AMAZING or WHAT?**

**I wanted to marry preeetttyyy much every vampire and werewolf in it!**

**But anyway, back to the ff. I'm sorry if there are words missing or typed twice, as my keyboard is being an ass at the min and sometimes decides to not type what i wrote. BEYOND annoying.**

**But, enjoy!**

Chapter 3

It took less than an hour for me and Rosalie to become great friends. I'd gone across the hall and into her room, decorated with the most stunning rose trip-ditch on one wall, and we'd talked for an hour.

'You look really thirsty,' she said after a moment of silence, '_really_ thirsty!'

'Just a little,' I shook my head, laughing more freely than I had since being human, as she pushed me and I stumbled backwards.

'Yep, _definitely_ thirsty, weakling,' she giggled, 'c'mon, we'll go hunting! Em and Es won't be back for ages, and it'd be better for them to meet you sober.'

'Sober?' I asked, as she pulled me by the arm down the stairs and into the living room, where Jasper was reading a newspaper, and Carlisle bent over a stack of confusing-looking papers.

'Just my little way of saying quenched,' she shrugged, 'doesn't really make sense, but then nothing in this life makes sense, y'know?'

'Totally,' I nodded, 'I feel like that _all_ the time. It's like everything's a dream – a nightmare – and I'm going to wake up nice and warm in my bed at home. With my mom and dad and Steffie to get me through life one day at a time. Not like this, it feels as though the last four years have blurred by.'

'You wait until the decades start disappearing!' she shook her head, 'that's when it starts getting freaky. But then again, it's like a second when you have an eternity, so maybe that's _why_. You get me?'

'Yeah, I'm with you there!'

'Well, not to interrupt,' Carlisle said in bemusement, looking up from his papers with a slight smile of gratitude at the distraction, 'since you two seem to be getting along like a house on fire. But can I ask if you're going somewhere?'

Rosalie nodded, not even giving me the chance to say no. 'We're going hunting, isn't that right William?'

'Fine,' I rolled my eyes.

'Okay,' Jasper said, looking from one of us to the other, 'since when do you make friends so fast?' He narrowed his eyes jokingly at Rosalie.

'I'm _actually_ very friendly,' she threw a leather glove at him.

'In your dreams, sister,' he stood up and chucked the glove back.

'Well, be back before Emmett and Esme – they'll want to meet you as soon as possible once they know you exist,' Carlisle said with mock stern.

'Yes, daddy,' Rosalie winked. 'But seriously, Will, you don't have to come if you don't want to.'

'No, it'd be great,' I assured her, 'let's go, I really am _very_ thirsty. Or should I say drunk?'

'Oh haha, so my phrase was silly. It just came from... you know, when you're really thirsty you go a bit loopy, like when you're drunk...'

'Since when do you say words like _loopy_?' Jasper asked with incredulity, as Rosalie and I raced each other to the front door.

'Looks like Rosalie's found a friend at last,' Carlisle said, still looking bemused, before turning back to his files and resuming his dark muttering about modern medicine.

#

'So, Mr Dark, how do you feel now?' Rosalie asked brightly, as we walked at human pace back to the house.

'Sober,' I winked, and she pushed me gently so that I stumbled into a ferny bush. 'Oi!' I pushed her back, and she laughed as her hair caught onto a branch and I had to untangle it for her. 'So tell me, what's Emmett like?'

'Emmett,' she sighed, 'he's everything. He's the bravest vampire in the world – the strongest too. When he looks into your eyes it's captivating, they're the most pure amber you can imagine. And he's funny too, _hilarious_, and he's always making the family laugh when things look like they're only going to get worse. He's never sad, because he thinks this life is the best thing imaginable. It's the only thing we disagree on. I think that's why I can talk to you like this... you don't like this life either.'

'I guess,' I nodded, 'I mean I guess that's why we click. I can't see how anyone would _want_ this.'

'Like Bella,' Rosalie rolled her eyes, before adding, 'don't ask!' when I looked confused. 'So what about you? What's Steffie like?'

I winced a little, but she didn't falter. 'Oh, you know. I've only seen her a few times since it all happened. She's got a new boyfriend now. But she's the most beautiful girl on earth... her eyes are really dark blue, and her hair a bright orange-red and really messy. And when she laughs it's like the whole world falls away.'

'You never spoke to her after all of this?' she asked, looking a little bemused, 'I'd have found her.'

'For the first year I couldn't think of anything but my own sorry life,' I shrugged, 'and after that she'd declared to everyone that I ran away because of her and that I was horrible.'

'She thought you left your family, your school and your friends because of _her_? Pig headed much?'

'I know,' I said, as the house appeared back in sight.

'You said about the first year... what was it like?'

'It was like...' I paused, standing still and looking up at the sky. 'You might not remember, but do you know when you're human and you get one of those nightmares, where everything's black agony, but when you wake up the feeling is still there even though you can't remember what happened properly?'

'I know,' she nodded, patting my shoulder in an oddly sympathetic way. 'That's how I think of the night I was changed. You know, what I told you about?'

'Yeah,' she'd told me when we were in her room.

'Ooh, shoot,' she pointed at a red jeep parked in the drive beside a new-looking sleek, shiny silver sports car. 'Looks like they're back already!'

'Oh dear,' I laughed, 'Carlisle won't be impressed!'

We darted over to the front door in a split second and opened it as quietly as we could, as if to sneak in. But as soon as we reached the hall we found our way blocked by a hugely tall, dark-skinned figure. '_Jacob_,' Rosalie said icily.

'Cullen,' he muttered back, leaving her name generic. 'And other vampire.'

'His name's _Will_. That's Jacob Black,' she added to me, 'he's Renesmee's imprinter. He's a werewolf, it's a long story.'

'I know about the wolves.'

'You do?' Jacob narrowed his eyes.

'Yeah, smelt 'em up by the Canadian border a few weeks back.'

'Oh, yeah,' he didn't look convinced, 'we were running a routine check,' he said, more for Rosalie's benefit than mine, as she was looking at him with questioning eyes.

'Right, well, wolfie, we have places to be, people to see, forward slash meet.'

'Nessie's in there,' he shot me an icy glare.

'Yeah, well, she's gonna meet him some time!' Rosalie looked extremely unconcerned, though I was very worried about meeting the part-human. The faint heartbeat I could hear from the living room was already too much. 'So, please, don't let us interrupt your leaving.'

He pulled a face before opening the front door and slamming it behind him rather harder than necessary.

'Ignore Jacob,' Rosalie rolled her eyes, 'he's always been that twat-ish.'

'Alright,' I laughed, as she opened the door to the living room and gave me a mock-tense strained grin. 'Meet the fam'!'

'Well if you'll look at what the tide washed in!' A bloke shot in front of me so quickly that I didn't notice the movement, and I had to concentrate on him harder than I'd ever concentrated on anyone before to avoid inhaling the scent of _that_ girl. 'It's great to meet you,' he held out a huge hand, and I shook it, recognising immediately that this was not a man to be messed with. He was _huge_! 'I'm Emmett,' he added unnecessarily.

'William,' I gave him a weak smile.

'And how's my gorgeous _Rose_?' He turned to her, and I felt a huge amount of gratitude that he didn't press for information.

'It's nice to meet you, William,' I turned to the other woman, and she smiled warmly. Her hair was a soft caramel, and fell in waves around her pointy face. She was wearing a pink flowery skirt and beige turtleneck. But when our eyes met, all four widened instantly. 'I'm Esme,' she said uncertainly.

'William,' I replied breathlessly, because I knew those eyes. I didn't know where from, but I _definitely_ knew those eyes!

**PLEASEEE review. Next chapter we'll start to see Carlisle and Esme's relationship, since this is most of what this story is about! There _will_ be strain!**

**and remember to SHINExX**


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